Guard-rail holder



(No Model.)

G. EHRHARTQ GUARD RAIL HOLDER.

Patented Ju1y'28, 1896.

Inventor;

Witn asses.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE EHRHART, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

GUARD-RA|L HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 564,876, dated. July 28, 1896.

Application filed September 8,1893. Serial No. 485,079. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE EHRHARI, a citizen of the United States,residing atLancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Guard-Rail Holders and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in a guard-rail holder of that class in which a guard-rail is held in position with reference to its main rail by means of a clamp-plate passed beneath and across the bases of said rails and on which said bases rest, having one end adapted to embrace the inner edge of the base of the main rail and the other end turned upward and inward over the outer edge of the base of the guard-rail so as to form an angular and beveled recess between the web of said rail and said turned-up end, adapted to receive a block and key, by means of which said rails are secured and held in place, the

v gage between their treads being determined by means of a divided, or two-parted block placed between their webs and secured in position by means of a bolt passed vertically down between the parts of said block "and through the clamp to the under side thereof, where a nut screwed home serves to keep said bolt in place.

The object of the invention is to produce a guard-rail holder, simple in construction, that will efiectively hold a guard-rail in position with reference to its main rail, that may be readily applied and easily adjusted, and whereby the gage between the rails may be regulated at pleasure.

It is known that Patent N 0. 329,870, dated November 3, 1885, was issued to Henry R. IVolpert, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a track-fastener, in which a guard-rail is held to its principal by means of clamp, block, and key; but the gage between the rails is determined by means of a large block, through the body of which the shaft of the retainingbolt passes, and a number of small pieces or strips placed between said block and the adjacent side of the web of the guard-rail, and

the key end of the clamp, while it is inwardly and upwardly sloping, is longitudinally straight and not beveled with reference to the length of the rail.

The purposes of the invention are attained by the means and devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, similar letters referring to similar parts throughout the several views, in which-.

Figure 1 is a side elevation. of aportion of a main and a guard rail in place, showing the elements of the invention in position; Fig. 2, a top View of Fig. 1, partially in horizontal section; Fig. 3, avertical cross-section taken on the line (I; 00 in Fig. 2, but the rails completed. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and. 12 are detail views of the several elements detached fromrtheir respective positions, and Figs. 13, 14, and 15 views showing a modification of the divided block.

In the drawings, A designates one of the main rails of a railway-track and is fastened to the usual ties a by spikes a, driven into said ties, the heads thereof embracing the outer edges of the base of said rail, and A designates the guard-rail, secured in position to the main rail by the elements of the invention which will now be described.

7 Bdesignates a clamp. (Shown in top view 9, and sectional elevation on the line y 'y, from in Fig. 8, end elevation, from the right, in

the right,in Fig. 10.) The base 12 of this clamp is a little longer than the width of the bases of the rails A and A, under which it is placed, Figs. 1, 2, and 3. One end is turned inward, as at b, Figs. 8 and 9, to embrace the outer edge of the base of the main rail A, Figs. 2 and 3, and the other end, D is beveled lengthwise of the rail, and is turned upward and inward to adapt it to accommodate a block and key on the outside of the guard-rail A, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and in the center thereof is an orifice b to accommodate the threaded end of the retaining-bolt when said bolt is placed in position.

C designates the divided block, which consists of two portions or sections 05 and 0 Figs. 4 and 5, adapted to be joined face to face and, when placed between the webs of the rails, Fig. 2, where the clamp Bis applied toetheir bases, determine the gage between their treads. rectangular body, a little longer than the width of the clamp-plate, extending from the web of the main rail, against which its back rests, to about midway of the space between the rails,where its front face is provided with a vertically-disposed semicircular groove 0 to be engaged by the shaft of the retaining-bolt to keep said portion longitudinally in place, and the portion C is an irregular body a number of times longer than the portion 0', having its back resting against the web of the guard rail and its front face arranged in steps 0, c and 0 each being equal in length to the front face of the portion 0, against which they fit, and provided with verticallydisposed semicircular grooves to accommodate the shaft of the retaining-bolt before mentioned. The step c has a depth equal to the depth of the portion 0 and when joined thereto determines the widest gage between the rails. The depth of the step 0 being alittle less, determines a narrower gage, and that of the step 0 being still less, determines a still narrower gage. The upper faces of these port-ions are hollowed out longitudinally, Figs. 3 and 5, to make room for the passage of the wheel-flanges between the rails, and

about the upper ends of the semicircular grooves are sunk therein angular recesses c to hide the head of the retaining-bolt when put in place. The portion 0 may have any length, and the number of its steps is determined by the number of adjustments it is desired to be made and the difference in their rise by the required degree of each separate adjustment.

Figs. 13, 14, and 15 illustrate a modification of the divided adjusting-block consisting of two portions 0 and G which are exact counterparts in size and shape, having in their sloping vertical faces vertically-disposed teeth or ridges adapted to fit into each other when the two portions are placed together, Fig. 13. In the sloping face of each is an oblong vertical orifice c for the boltshaft, and in the top an angular recess for the head of said bolt. The block as shown in Figs. 13 and 14 is shown in greatest adjustment.

D designates a block, Fig. 6, to be placed on the outside of the guard-rail and adapted to fill the space between the Web thereof and the beveled and turned-up end of the clamp, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and in the lower portion of its outer face is placed a recess (1 to accommodate the body of a specially-constructed key D, Fig. '7, adapted to be driven home therein to securely bind the parts together, while d indicates a vertical slit placed in the forward portion of said key dividing said portion into two prongs which may be bent outward, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, to prevent said key from slipping back.

In Figs. 11 and 12 is shown a square-headed bolt E and nut e on its lower end, the shaft The portion 0 is a practically of which bolt is adapted to be passed through the vertical orifice of the adjusting-block C and through the base of the clamp B to the under side thereof, where the nut e on its threaded lower end, having been screwed home onto said base, serves to keep said block longitudinally in place, the bolt-head being within the angular recess within its top.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings, an inspection of the block 0, in position between the rails, shows that the portion 0 has the face of its step 0 applied to the front face of the portion 0 and that the guard-rail is held in place,in its widest gage, with reference to the main rail. Should it be desired to reduce said gage or bring the guard-rail closer to the main rail, the key D is withdrawn, the bolt E removed, and the portion C moved to the left till the face of its step 0 shall be in front of the portion 0', driving home the key D and returning the bolt E, the gage will be reduced to the second step. In a similar manner it may be reduced to the third step, and so on to the last step in the portion 0 when the limit in adjustment will be reached or the guard-rail may be said worn out.

Having nowdescribed the invention and ascertained the manner in which it performs its functions, what I consider new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl 1. In a guard-rail holder a divided block comprising two oppositelydisposed pieces having their adjacent vertical faces oppositely sloping and provided with verticallydisposed ridges or steps and with an oblong vertical recess in each of said faces, substantially as described and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. In a guard-rail holder, the divided block 0, to separate the guard-rail from the main rail, said block, consisting of the portions 0 and 0 said portion Ohavin g its back to rest against the web of the main rail and its front face midway between the rails, the vertical semicircular groove 0 centrally placed in said front face, and the angular recess 0 in the top about the upper end of said groove; and said portion 0 having its back to rest against the web of the guard-rail, the steps 0, c and c in the front face thereof, a vertical semicircular groove 0 centrally placed in the front face of each step and an angular recess 0 in the top about the upper ends of said grooves, the step 0 having a depth equal to that of the portion 0, that of 0 being less and that of 0, still less, substantially as described and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination in a guard-rail holder with the main rail, A, and the guard-rail, A, having the clamp-plate, B, with the folded end, I), embracing the outer edge of the base of said main rail, A, and the inwardly and upwardly sloping beveled end embracing the outer edge of the base of said guard-rail, A, and the divided block, 0, as described, secured in position between the webs of said rails as shown, of the block, D, against the outer face tially as described and for the purpose hereof the web of the guard-rail, with the recess, inbefore set forth. 10 d, along the lower edge in the outer face of In testimony whereof I affix my signature said block, and the key, D, with the vertical in presence of two Witnesses.

5 cut, cl,in the forward end, driven home and GEORGE EHRHART.

secured in place, as shown, in said recess and Vitnesses: against the upwardly and inwardly sloping DANL. H. 'HERR,

end, W, of said clamp-plate, B, all substan- EDWIN BOOKMYER. 

